I just recently learned that this is a thing that exists. I’ve had a couple audiology tests that use these weird headphones with firm rubber balls where normally expect to see the speakers; the rubber balls sit on your temporal bone, and there’s a metal bar the wraps around your head connecting them and giving them pressure to kinda squeeze your head.
The sound experience was pretty wild - my ears were completely open, so I could still hear ambient noises, but the sounds from the headphones were just kinda there… like it didn’t sound like they were coming from anywhere, but like beamed directly into my brain.
I was curious if these were exclusive for audiology testing or if there were commercial variants for listening to music and such… hit the ol’ search engine, and lo and behold: there are actually quite a few commercial variants!
- TLDR -
Anywho, I’m intrigued as hell, and am curious if anyone here has experience with bone conduction headphones. Lots of questions:
Which brand/model are you using?
How’s the sound quality?
How’s the sound leak?
What kind of music do you use it to listen to? (my poison of choice is symphonic metal, with emphasis on the symphonic bits – looking for that full range hit everything from the flutes to the howler monkeys :P)
Are they comfortable to wear? For how long?
Do you get any skin irritation or even breakdown where it contacts your temple?
Does the hook part wrap around your ears without any pressure points?
Does the behind-the-head band bounce around when you’re walking or running?
How much space is between the band and the back of your head/neck? (I think my noggin is a bit on the smaller side, and I have basically no hair… one of the manufacturers makes one with a smaller sized band, which might be a good selling point for me)
How’s the battery life?
How long have you had it?
When do you use it? (working out, at work, etc)
Do they stay put, or do you need to reposition them frequently?
Anything else to comment on?
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Which brand/model are you using?
Aftershokz Aeropex
How’s the sound quality?
Not great, but they are not headphones I use for audiophile-purposes
How’s the sound leak?
No idea tbh - a bit more than in-ears/over-ears I guess?
What kind of music do you use it to listen to?
Hardly any. If I want music, I have other hardware for that. My primary use for these headphones is to listen to podcasts while exercising
Are they comfortable to wear? For how long?
You don’t really notice them. I use them for hours on end for long cycling trips and they work well for that
Do you get any skin irritation or even breakdown where it contacts your temple?
I have not noticed any
Does the hook part wrap around your ears without any pressure points?
Yes
Does the behind-the-head band bounce around when you’re walking or running?
Not noticably
How much space is between the band and the back of your head/neck?
A few centimeters, less than five.
How’s the battery life?
A full charge maybe gets you 8 hours I think? I never let my devices go that low, though
How long have you had it?
2 years
When do you use it?
While exercising to listen to podcasts
Do they stay put, or do you need to reposition them frequently?
They stay where they are. It can be annoying to put on/take off shirts though as they can easily get stuck in them
Anything else to comment on?
I really enjoy my headphones, but they are most certainly not good for music imo. Still, it makes my rotation, which is mostly these plus a pair of buds that go in my pocket for all other listening purposes
Completely agree with everything said there and will add a couple of cents.
They are not audiophile headphones but now form an irreplaceable part of my lineup because they are the opposite - an extremely handy and comfy sound devices for when I am active.
The sound quality leaves a lot to be wished for on its own… BUT I have never noticed it in the 3 years that I have used it while running, cycling, or being in the gym. Our mind focuses on other stuff when exercising and the audio for that level of attention is perfect.
The weak spots are the lows and highs - jazz is not worth it and you miss the colour on the bass (i.e. only the thump), the mids are okay, which makes most rock/indie/pop good to listen to.
Hmmm. I listen mostly to genres of “extreme” metal, and decent bass production is a must for me in my exercise headphones. I’ve killed multiple sets of Shure in-ear monitors with sweat (RIP my wallet), and use sound-isolating ear tips to eliminate extraneous noise and get better sound. I absolutely notice the loss in sound quality when I switch to different, less-isolating headphones, and it’s very distracting for me.
It sounds like these would not be a good fit for me.
What others have said here is you could try and pair it up with earplugs. That does noticeably improve the sound quality and bass, while it’s no shame to ruin earplugs with sweat.
Shure has a break-away connection between the in-ear pieces and the cord that’s usually the culprit for corrosion, rather than the elecronic bits inside the ear pieces themselves.
Regardless - I’ll look into them. If I’m going to be in the gym for several hours each day, I might as well have headphones that I like.
Your TLDR is longer than the comment above it LOL
It’s a TS;DR
Yeah usually TLDR means “here’s a short summary” but in this case it’s “here’s where to start reading if you don’t care about the context and want to just dive right into the questions”.
I fucking love my AfterShokz, despite the awful name.
I got them to use while out walking, so I can still hear traffic and other hazards. The sound quality is perfectly fine (I am no audiophile), though with precisely 0 isolation, your experience will depend entirely on the environment you’re in - that being the whole point. If you’re walking down the highway, traffic noise is going to eat everything but the beat, and that’s on loud.
No discomfort, they’re stable enough mechanically (I’m a walker, not a runner), I kind of wish the band were a little tighter but that’s very minor.
There is a little too much space for me at the back actually; I can’t wear them lying down as it just pushes them off.
Battery life is… not an issue, I’ve had them a year or maybe two I can’t remember, they’re good.
I suspect my use-case is not your use-case though, so ymmv.
It’s now “Shokz” BTW
Interesting.
Before Shokz was AfterShokz. :-)
The comma is deliberately omitted and it’s placement is left to the reader.
I love my Shokz Openrun. It really fits my head, is easy to detach and the audio is pretty good. I use it basically everyday, anywhere and anytime. After wearing it for about an hour, you don’t even remember that you’re wearing it. It’s so comfortable. The battery is pretty good, too. You can play music on it 16 hours straight.
My mother who used to be a Shokz user bought soundcore aerofit pro recently though, she claims that musics sound better on Shokz. So I don’t recommend those “open-ear headphones”.
One thing I hate about Shokz is that I cannot lie on the bed while wearing it. Otherwise it’s pretty good.
I wore some of these at work for a while to listen to music, since earbuds were an OSHA safetey issue.
- They are horrible in loud environments. I had to turn them up so high thay they would vibrate, which was an unpleasent feeling.
- However, you can still hear them fine with OSHA approved earplugs, but then the music sounds all muffled.
- You can find lots of different ones on Amazon and such just by searching for bone conduction headphones, ranging from cheap to expensive.
- The ones I got cost about $20 at the time, and had an okay sound quality, but not much bass.
I leaned about these from the Soundband Kickstarter over a decade ago, whoch I backed. None of the backers ever got a product, as it seems the creators dropped the project and ran with the money. Those ones had the bone-conduction wrap around the ear. Instead of sit on the bone in front of the ear.
Edit, to add a few points:
- They were comfortable enough to wear for several hours, but the vibration got real annoying if I had to turn up the volume due to a loud environment. The band that wraps around the ears could get uncomfortable after a while.
- It didn’t irratate my skin, but vibration at loud volumes was uncomfortable.
- I wore these with glasses no problem.
- The band that wraps around wasn’t tight, but fit okay enough to not flop around while working. Not sure about for jogging or other work-outs.
Lots of Aftershox comments and recs here. I’ve owned 3 generations of Aftershox and now use the Suunto Wingz. I like the head gestures and led and the sound is as good if not better. YMMV.
Thanks for the update the After shocks died to me when the last pair fail on the left side 3 times after replacements. Usually lasted a year or so, but the last pair died so soon it felt wrong. Went to a Chinese no brand thing on $30 that I can replace without thinking about the tag while trying to find a good one.
AfterShokz is the most notable brand that makes these, but they are called “bone conduction” headphones.
I had a coworker who would swear by these things. We cannot wear double earplugs at work, so that was her solution to listen to music. I did some googling and found that many people stated that the audio quality is decent, but bass can be very lacking on them. It seems like wearing earplugs with them supposedly help things like that. I love bass and can’t stand not having it, so I never bothered to try a pair.
Personally, I have a pair of wireless earbuds instead altho I don’t wear them at work. They have both an “ambient” mode where I can hear stuff around me similar to how you can with bone conduction headphones, and they also have a noise cancelling mode. The battery doesn’t last nearly as long as with something like a pair of AfterShokz tho and you have the discomfort of putting them in your ear canal. But I’ve always been curious about bone conduction headphonesn too! Hope you enjoy them if you get a pair!
Shokz Openrun, the smaller ones.
Sound quality? Good, lacking bass but overall good.
It has to be quite loud before anyone at the office hears anything
A bit of everything, mostly rock, electronic.
Comfortable Yes, all day long for 6 months straight during office hours.
No irritation, not a trace like you would have on the nose when wearing glasses
It barely touches the ears
No it does not bounce, it’s super light and I got the smaller size that’s quite close to the head.
I can barely fit my index finger between the band and my head.
How’s the battery life? Over 8 hours for sure.
How long have you had it? 6 months
I wear it at work, when driving a convertible , or working in the garden. (Even with foam hear plugs when needed, it messes un the EQ balance but still enjoyable).
Do they stay put, or do you need to reposition them frequently? No they just do their thing.
It’s paired to both my phone and laptop, but that feature is far from perfect : windows notification messing up the music, or phone notifications messing up Teams calls/meetings.
In my experience, after trying most brands, they are just ok for music.
Using them at the gym was not a good experience because the gym music is too loud, and this is the same for malls and airports.
Outdoors usage is good for running and washing the car. None of them are good for Webex or Zoom meetings because the mic is very tinny, except for Shoks OpenComm2 UC, with the boom mic.
In a quiet office, with open space design, my coworkers didn’t complain. One coworker sits two desks down, from me, has a pair of Shokz and I don’t hear his music.
And because of the behind the neck design, you can’t lay in bed. Anything that pushes the conductor out of the sweet spot will ruin the music.
I didn’t keep any of them.
Have you seen shokz open fit? They’re more the wireless earbuds form factor, those might work in bed
Afterskokz are great like everyone says. I even sleep with mine on sometimes with a rain app on so it doesn’t bother my wife. They stay on all night for me, they are better laying on your side but you can lay pretty much how you want with a little adjustment.
I’ve had a pair of shcokz until I forgot them in an airport. I bought regular pair instead since that’s what was available at the time. Pretty much what everyone said here is true. Comfy, you hear well 90% of the time, good combo with earplugs when you can, sound quality is okay but not great.
One very neat (accidental) feature of them is that if you put them in the right accustic (like in a cupboard) they turn into an okay speaker.
doesn’t seem to be so comfortable with glasses, esp with a hoodie unfortunately
Aftershocks… I have the mini for about 2 years and still a but too much space in the back but my hair usually covers it. Better is usually 30’ish hours? Sound is good, you won’t get deep bass or be immersed by it but for running around it’s great. I wear mine at work and in the shower too. Sometimes while sleeping too depending on battery life and the lazy factor. My BFF has the “detached” over the ears version which eliminates the neck band issue.
The detached version doesn’t use conduction, and it goes in the ears preventing ear plugs for anyone curious.
It’s weird the website acts as though they are comparable.
I bought a cheap pair on Amazon for around $30 just to try the concept out. I actually use them primarily for gaming cause I play a lot of split screen/in the same room with people, so it let’s us talk while I can still hear.
Couple of notes:
- Don’t put the volume too high, as they can damage your ears just like regular headphones
- They are definitely quieter than regular headphones as nothing is blocking your ears.
